We got back from the dressage and show jumping rallies late yesterday evening (10:30ish) - a very exhausting weekend but so much fun!
During the dressage competition on Saturday, E chose to complete the easiest tests, with a reader, and managed to score a 59 on Test B and a low 60's on Test A. Very respectable for her first time out. As a team (Pony Club rallies are team events, so individual scores are added together to get the "team score" for ranking), her group placed 5th out of 6 (one competitor forgot her test - hence a bad score) BUT they scored first in horse management! Not an easy thing to do, btw. E was very happy with the results and thinks their stable manager (a fellow pony clubber from her club who chose to keep the team members on track rather than ride himself) was awesome. He definitely made sure they were up to snuff on their animal and tack care and kept them on schedule for all the required inspections and competition times. Stable manager is an important job in the Pony Club rally world.
Sunday was the show jumping rally. Being fairly new to jumping, E and Monte entered the crossrail division. And this time E was moved to what is called a "catch team" comprised of 4 riders and a stable manager who came from 3 different clubs. The highlight of the day for E and Monte was that they ended up with a perfect score - no faults made during their two jumping rounds and no penalties accrued for horse management! Her team ended the day in first place for both overall team competition and in horse management.
We tent-camped during the rally, which was fine except that it did get a bit cold at night (around 48) and there were no showers available. On Sunday I found a friend with an RV and begged a short shower from them - oh the joy of hot water coming from above!
E was super exhausted by the rallies, but like last time, thought it was totally worth it.
Looking forward to our next Pony Club event at the end of the month!
